Showing papers in "American Behavioral Scientist in 1980"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors make explicit the human exemptionalism paradigm implicit in traditional sociological thought, and develop an alternative new ecological paradigm which may better serve the field in a post-exuberant age.
Abstract: paradigm which impedes recognition of the societal significance of current ecological realities. Thus, sociology stands in need of a fundamental alteration in its disciplinary paradigm. The objectives of this article are to make explicit the &dquo;Human Exemptionalism Paradigm&dquo; implicit in traditional sociological thought, and to develop an alternative &dquo;New Ecological Paradigm&dquo; which may better serve the field in a post-exuberant age.
544 citations
TL;DR: One of the cruel ironies of marriage is that, although husbandwife relationships are largely male-dominant, the use of physical violence seems to be one of the few aspects of marriage which approach equality between spouses.
Abstract: One of the cruel ironies of marriage is that, although husbandwife relationships are largely male-dominant, the use of physical violence seems to be one of the few aspects of marriage which approach equality between spouses. There is irony in this also because, except for the rare instances when a desperate or enraged woman seizes a knife or gun and is effective in using it, the effects of this violence are far from equal. She may cast the first coffee pot, but he generally casts the last and
158 citations
156 citations
TL;DR: The social sciences have largely ignored the fact that human societies depend on the biophysical environment for their survival as mentioned in this paper, and the neglect of such a fundamental issue seems attributable primarily to anthropocentric Western thought, wherein humans are viewed as separate from and above and beyond the rest of nature.
Abstract: The social sciences have largely ignored the fact that human societies depend on the biophysical environment for their survival. The neglect of such a fundamental issue seems attributable primarily to two interrelated facts: First, the social sciences have roots in anthropocentric Western thought, wherein humans are viewed as separate from and &dquo;above&dquo; the rest of nature (White, 1967); and second, these disciplines developed during an era of abnormal abundance when ecological constraints were not salient
143 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, violence is defined as "the overt expression of physical force compelling action against one's will on pain of being hurt or killed, or actually hurting or killing" and analyzed a sample of prime time and weekend morning network dramatic television programs.
Abstract: In the 30 years that we have lived with television, public concern with the medium’~g predilection for violence has been reflected in at least eight separate congressional hearings, a special report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence in 1969, and a massive study of television and social behavior commissioned by the Surgeon General. In the years since 1972, the flow of research and debate has continued. While scientific caution requires us to proceed carefully, some conclusions can be drawn from the wealth of data and evidence that has been accumulated. First, violence is a frequent and consistent feature of television drama. In our research violence is defined as the overt expression of physical force compelling action against one’s will on pain of being hurt or killed, or actually hurting or killing. Using this definition we have been analyzing a sample of prime time and weekend morning network dramatic television programs annual-
65 citations
TL;DR: In a recent special issue of the Journal of Social Science, the authors, it was shown that the various social science disciplines occupy very different segments along the growth curve and the two disciplines that appear to have the least developed methodologies are anthropology and history.
Abstract: Social science methodology has virtually exploded in the past 25 years. While the growth in methodological developments has been roughly exponential for the social sciences in general, it is clear from reading the six articles that make up this special issue that the various social science disciplines occupy very different segments along the growth curve. Most would certainly agree that the methodologies employed by economists are more advanced than those of the other social science disciplinespsychology is probably next in terms of its methodological innovations. The two disciplines that appear to have the least developed methodologies are anthropology and history. Sociology and political science fall between. While interest in the development of social science methodology has permeated the various social science disciplines in some cases for well
59 citations
49 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that before the transition from the pre-to-post-paradigm period, a number of schools compete for the domination of a given field.
Abstract: For a good two hundred years now, the question of limits to growth and optimism and pessimism regarding the human prospect has been debated without consensus. Interest has waxed and waned more times than can be counted. First one side, then the other has seemed to be succeeding. But still in 1980, a century plus four score and two years after Malthus’ ( 1798, 1830) Essay on the Principle of Population first appeared, we have no agreement. This seems a negation of Thomas Kuhn’s (1970: 178) proposition that &dquo;before the transition from the preto the postparadigm period ... a number of schools compete for the domination of a given field. Afterwards, in the wake of some notable scientific achievement, the number of schools is greatly reduced, ordinarily to one.&dquo; The issue in this article is less to ask
27 citations
TL;DR: The fallacy of misplaced concreteness was formally defined by Alfred North Whitehead (1929: 11) as &dquo;neglecting the degree of abstraction involved when an actual entity is considered merely so far as it exemplifies certain categories of thought.
Abstract: The fallacy of misplaced concreteness was formally defined by Alfred North Whitehead (1929: 11) as &dquo;neglecting the degree of abstraction involved when an actual entity is considered merely so far as it exemplifies certain categories of thought.&dquo; Suppose, for example, we take the actual entity &dquo;a schoolbus&dquo; and consider it only in terms of the preselected categories of yellowness and four-wheeledness, abstracting from everything else such
15 citations
TL;DR: The relationship of income distribution to economic growth was discussed in this paper. But, as stated by the authors, "there might, perhaps, be a short time lag before the incomes of the poorest as well as the middle and upper income groups would experience improvements in their levels of living as a result of development".
Abstract: One important problem in economic development is the relationship of income distribution to economic growth. The general view during the first two decades of accelerated development, the 1950s and 1960s, was that economic growth would benefit all segments of society. It was assumed that the poorest as well as the middleand upper-income groups would experience improvements in their levels of living as a result of development. There might, perhaps, be a short time lag before the incomes
15 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors suggest that Chicago presented a raw reality of the moment at the high point of industrial urbanization, that social scientists at the University of Chicago attempted to understand that relity though inductive, empirical research, and that one of the goals of the research was to develop policies that would help ameliorate existing social problems.
Abstract: questions: Why did urban social sciences emerge in Chicago during the first third of this century, and how have these beginnings influenced the contemporary study of urban social life? In answering the first of these questions we must focus upon what the City of Chicago itself represented as an example of urbanization during this period; to answer the second, we must look to the University of Chicago and its position in relation to the intellectual and social thought of the times. In summarizing the answers to these questions, I suggest that Chicago presented a raw reality of the moment at the high point of industrial urbanization, that social scientists at the University of Chicago attempted to understand that relity though inductive, empirical research, and that one of the goals of the research was to develop policies that would help ameliorate existing social problems. The three elements of this answer, the raw dynamics of industrial urbanization, the empirical emphasis of these social scientists, and their policy orien-
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that history is different from other social sciences, and the underlying educational philosophy is decidedly progressive, the assignment assignments only roughly structured, the discipline very loose, and paradoxically, more are attracted by interpretations which claim to overturn or replace older ones entirely.
Abstract: History is different from the other social sciences. Nine contrasting
qualities have produced a striking variation between the course of
development of quantitative methods in history and that in the rest of
the social scientific disciplines. First, historians have framed less compelling
research agendas, and feel less constrained by the ones which
have been proposed, than do professionals in other fields. Historians
borrow, rather than invent theories, prize diversity of insight more than
coherence; paradoxically, more are attracted by interpretations which
claim to overturn or replace older ones entirely, rather than those which
stress their continuity with previous structures of understanding. If
historians are often classified as belonging to one "school" or another,
the underlying educational philosophy is decidedly progressive, the
assignments only roughly structured, the discipline very loose.
TL;DR: The second limit derives from the work of social scientists who have focused their attention on the study of the varying rates of exogamy among the different religious and ethnic subgroups in American society.
Abstract: we hope to learn why people intermarry.&dquo; This generalized assumption, that by discovering who intermarries will lead to our understanding of the cause of intermarriage, has shaped one of the conceptual limits of the study of Jewish intermarriage. The second limit derives from the work of social scientists who have focused their attention on the study of the varying rates of exogamy among the different religious and ethnic subgroups in American society. Explicitly or implicitly such studies have defined intermarriage as a necessary covariant of the process of assimilation. That, and nothing else. Inasmuch as the assimilation of minorities has been seen in American sociology as the social and cultural equivalent of a manifest destiny, intermarriage has been seen, in the work of the more structurally oriented scholars, as a kind of barometer of the extent of success-
TL;DR: There is a growing body of knowledge in the behavioral sciences, backed by the experiences of correctional administrators and on-site observations at institutions experiencing riots, which is sufficient for a tentative identification of some of the underlying conditions of prison riots, and foran approximation of the causal relationships between the patterns of institutional disorders as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The specter c~f violence and the full-scale, bloody riots in the prison system of the United States have resulted in intensified efforts to identify some of the causes or correlates of prison violence. It is a sad commentary on our social priorities that every conceivable statistic concerning sports is collected and made available to all who are interested, but there is almost no empirically verified information on the exact causes of prison riots. Nonetheless, there is a growing body of knowledge in the behavioral sciences, backed by the experiences of correctional administrators and on-site observations at institutions experiencing riots, which is sufficient for a tentative identification of some of the underlying conditions of prison riots, and foran approximation of some of the causal relationships between the patterns of institutional disorders. There are, for example, single case studies (McCleary, 1961; New York State Special Commits-
TL;DR: The logic inherent in the design of the American political system is based upon a presumption that overlapping jurisdictions will give citizens access to multiple sets of officials to tend their interests as mentioned in this paper, which also presumes that authority must be divided or fragmented if those who exercise governmental prerogatives are to be held accountable for their actions.
Abstract: The logic inherent in the design of the American political system is based upon a presumption that overlapping jurisdictions will give citizens access to multiple sets of officials to tend their interests. That logic also presumes that authority must be divided or fragmented if those who exercise governmental prerogatives are to be held accountable for their actions. It may well be that the most critical problems of urban government have derived from excessive efforts to simplify political structures [Bish and Ostrom, 1973: 93-94].[G]iven its present political organization and decision-making processes, the city is fundamentally ungovernable. By ungovernable I mean that the urban policy- making system is incapable of producing coherent decisions, developing effective policies, or implementing state or federal programs.... City government is an intractable jigsaw puzzle because of the inherent fragmentation of urban service delivery and the historical fragmentation of urban policy-making processes [Yates, ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the task of developing a frame of reference that both facilitates systematic review and accommodates reasonable space limitations, which is difficult for sociologists not to get into the literature at one point or another.
Abstract: Urban studies in sociology have generated a literature so voluminous and diverse that is difficult for sociologists not to &dquo;get into&dquo; it at one point or another. &dquo;Getting out of’ a plunge into this literature with anything resembling a rigorous, coherent evaluation is another matter. Even limiting the assessment to roughly the past 20 years, one is still faced with the task of developing a frame of reference that both facilitates systematic review and accommodates reasonable space limitations.
TL;DR: In recent years, it has been suggested that the subject of economics is in disarray as discussed by the authors, and the claim is perhaps chiefly voiced by noneconomists, but they are joined by a sometimes vociferous minority of dissident economists.
Abstract: In recent years it has frequently been suggested that the subject of economics is in disarray. The claim is perhaps chiefly voiced by noneconomists, but they are joined by a sometimes vociferous minority of dissident economists. (&dquo;Economist&dquo; is only slightly less difficult to define than Marxist or Christian; a working definition might be anyone who has seriously done graduate work in the field at a major university, or has acquired the equivalent knowledge elsewhere.) Although the complaints are frequently addressed to the profession, it is reasonable to suspect first, that they are really intended to appeal over the heads of the profession to the public at large, and above all to the politicians, and second, that they are exhortations to public opinion and policy makers to reject the policy advice of the vast majority of orthodox economists.
TL;DR: In the 1970s, urban economics emerged as a mature specialty, with a well-defined body of theoretical and empirical work as discussed by the authors, focusing on location theory, interregional movement of factors of production, transportation, and urban and regional growth.
Abstract: During the 1970s urban economics emerged as a mature specialty, with a well-defined body of theoretical and empirical work.’ Historically, regional economics, from which urban economics evolved, focused on location theory, interregional movement of factors of production, transportation, and urban and regional growth. As the interest of economists in urban issues increased, the range of topics for theoretical and empirical work was expanded. Considerable effort was devoted to the study of intrametropolitan development and the structure of urban
TL;DR: In this paper, it is accepted that there are discernible patterns, many of which are known or suspected, which can be used to identify the causes of violence and the scientific principles that account for their occurrence and, when known, reduce the injuries and deaths that violence causes.
Abstract: Violent crimes are discrete events occurring in a particular place at a specific time and involving an identifiable victim or victims and one or more less identifiable perpetrators. These events are not distributed randomly in place or time, and the people involved are not a random sample of the population. There are discernible patterns, many of which are known or suspected. Because these patterns exist, there is reason to believe that the scientific principles that account for their occurrence can be discovered and, when known, can reduce the injuries and deaths that violence causes. Progress in obtaining a scientific understanding of violence has been aided by two major developments. The first stems from the past compartmentalization of science that had led to a narrow focus on only those variables which fell traditionally within a scientific discipline, be it anthropology, sociology, or psychology, to name but three. Now, it is accepted that there are differences in
TL;DR: A number of significant changes in American Jewish life have effected a partial reconciliation between modern feminism and traditional Judaism as discussed by the authors, and it is worth highlighting some of these changes here, by way of illustration: a handful
Abstract: began to synthesize these two seemingly contradictory ideologies, a number of significant changes in American Jewish life have effected a partial reconciliation between modern feminism and traditional Judaism. Most of the developments have been documented elsewhere (Lerner, 1977; Fishman, 1973; &dquo;A selected bibliography,&dquo; 1976), but it is worthwhile to highlight some of them here. By way of illustration: a handful
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the state of the research in urban research and suggest that it has moved from a dominant emphasis on political sociology to one stressing political economy, and how these transformations have been manifested is their concern here.
Abstract: politics and social life of urban populations had even then been going on for fifty years. More than five decades have now passed since that milestone, and the purpose here is to examine the state of the research. The transformation can be described in several ways. One is an increasing bifurcation of urban research from a political agenda to a scientific one, what Hugh D. Price once called the difference between an &dquo;actordefined&dquo; and an &dquo;observer-defined&dquo; research strategy. Another way in which this century plus of urban research may be characterized is to suggest that it has moved from a dominant emphasis on political sociology to one stressing political economy. How these transformations have been manifested is our concern here.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a survey of economic equation systems and their applications to the economy as a whole, focusing on particular segments of the economy such as consumer spending, yielding systems of consumer demand equations.
Abstract: Considerable methodological advances have been made in economics in the last few decades. They are mostly of a quantitative nature in that they provide a numerical representation of the working of the economy or part of the economy. Such representations are valuable from a scientific viewpoint and essential for the making of informed policy decisions. Indeed, the desire of decision makers in government and industry to have this numerical information is one cause of the subject’s rapid development Other causes are the advances in computer technology, the availability of large data bases, and the increased emphasis on mathematical topics in graduate economics training. A comprehensive survey of these developments is not feasible within the available space. We have selected the topic of economic equation systems, which provides the opportunity for a relatively coherent treatment. Section 2 gives an elementary account of the simultaneous equation model and section 3 describes applications of this model to the economy as a whole. Section 4 deals with the system-wide approach to microeconomics. This approach is also “simultaneous” in nature, but it focuses on particular segments of the economy such as consumer spending, yielding systems of consumer demand equations.
TL;DR: One can concentrate on facts, restricting the scope of the question to actually existing societies and so to the description of their structure and performance, or on generating the logical implications of particular patterns of interdependence
Abstract: modeling, on generating the logical implications of particular patterns of interdependence; or one can concentrate on facts, restricting the scope of the question to actually existing societies and so to the description of their structure and performance. And, as one might expect, many individual practitioners may never offer a complete answer to the question, but orient their research to rather specific partial answers. Even so, the big question lurks continuously behind the little answers, providing a kind of vision that has been central to the field throughout its existence.
TL;DR: In the United States, crime statistics for the years of 1976 and 1977 revealed a reduction in the rate of violent crime for the first time since 1961 as discussed by the authors, with a reduction of 7% in the overall crime rate.
Abstract: Violent crime, including murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, is a persistent and major social and political problem in the United States. While the country experienced relative tranquility during the 1940s and 1950s, ~ the rates of criminal violence began to climb with the beginning of the 1960s (Block, 1977). Between 1960 and 1978, the per capita rate of violent offenses reported to police has more than tripled, with the greatest increase taking place between 1965 and 1970, when violent crime grew more than 16% a year (Uniform Crime Reports, 1960~1978). This rather spectacular rise abated somewhat during the five years between 1970 and 1975, when violent crime increased by only 6% a year. While the data are not yet available to extend this analysis from 1975 to the present, the increase in the rate of violent crime slowed significantly during the three years between 1975 and 1978. Crime statistics for the years of 1976 and 1977 revealed a reduction in the rate of violent crime for the first time since 1961. In 1977, the nation’s overall crime rate declined by 7%, bearing out predictions of a crime
TL;DR: The past three decades have brought important developments in psychological methodology, including new ways of expressing theories, new methods of statistical data analysis, and more sophisticated techniques for psychological measurement.
Abstract: The past three decades have brought important developments in psychological methodology, including new ways of expressing theories, new methods of statistical data analysis, and more sophisticated techniques for psychological measurement. The central figures in methodological development in this period are not ideas, nor scientists, but instruments-the electronic digital computers that contribute so widely to behavioral and social research. Computers have shaped the development of methodology by greatly enlarging our conception of what is possible. Of course, computers have also brought difficulties, since a computer
TL;DR: The malaise surrounding the explicit teaching of formal analytical methods can be traced directly to an emphasis on intensive, holistic, and personalized ethnography as mentioned in this paper, where the primary concern has been enhancing the richness and scope of information gleaned from intimate contact with those we studied.
Abstract: In the past 15 to 20 years a minor revolution in methodology has occurred in social anthropology. As recently as the late 1950s formal training in the art of data acquisition and research design was almost nonexistent. Training in the craft of social anthropology was limited primarily to rapport-building and role-playing in field situations (Pelto and Pelto 1978: 8). The malaise surrounding the explicit teaching of formal analytical methods can be traced directly to an emphasis on intensive, holistic, and personalized ethnography. Within this tradition, the primary concern has-been enhancing the richness and scope of information gleaned from intimate contact with those we studied. Evidence of this widespread indifference to implications of methodology for the cumulative nature of science can be seen in the highly abbreviated sections dealing with methods in most monographs and journals and the absence of formal graduate training in methods through the 1960s. A basic stance of many practitioners was (and still is) that if you wanted to do anthropology, you just went out an did it. A solid theoretical base and familiarity with the classic works of the disciplinary fathers was assumed to ensure success in the field.
TL;DR: The effects of transportation regulation on all segments of transport with special emphasis on railroads are discussed in this article, with a focus on the effects of regulation on the railroads, and the lagging interest in transportation economics into the 1950s and then a revived attention to this subject as railroad fortunes declined in the face of competition from unregulated competitors and as a result of the absence of adequate return on investment.
Abstract: This article, one from an issue devoted to "Economics: Progress and Prospects", describes the effects of transportation regulation on all segments of transport with special emphasis on railroads. It demonstrates the lagging interest in transportation economics into the 1950s and then portrays a revived attention to this subject as railroad fortunes declined in the face of competition from unregulated competitors and as a result of the absence of adequate return on investment. The topics include Penn Central collapse, the 3R and 4R Acts, subsidy action and state rail plans, rail cost behavior, the trucking industry, the air transport industry, shifting modal shares, Amtrak, urban transportation, the Canadian experience, and 1979 prospects.
TL;DR: In economics, the quality of labor services is crucial for understanding economic growth, inflation, and taxation as mentioned in this paper, and how well or poorly an economy functions depends very much on its quality of labour services, the length of the work week, morale of workers, the number of people in the work force, and the amount of underemployment.
Abstract: Of the various classes of economic resources, labor service is by far the most important. Understanding the supply characteristics of labor services is crucial for understanding such topics as economic growth, inflation, and taxation. How well or how poorly an economy functions depends very much on its quality of labor services, the length of the work week, morale of workers, the number of people in the work force, and the amount of underemployment. Economics, being one of the most complicated of all dis-